it's quiet here. too quiet

i returned home this evening to a different house. as i walked across the lawn i could hear music playing through the open windows. i sensed a change. everything was normal inside. neat. tidy. but then i began noticing small differences. an object moved here. another there. lamps had been left on. the shades higher than usual. a pile of books where there once had been only one. and oddly, small stones sitting atop my collection of blue bottles.

i have questioned Oscar about this. a waste of time. i might as well have been interrogating the pile of rocks, or what was left of it. i have exhausted myself trying to solve the mystery. i'm tired. too tired to undo the changes. besides, i think i like the new look. somebody has done me a favor. and i am 'spent'. i will leave things just as they are.

so, you who are out there. you who were in here. i thank you!